After years of working and saving for a future for yourself and your family, you and your spouse have decided to end your marriage. During the divorce process, most clients immediately understand that the assets need to be divided. Assets include everything from debts to the money in the bank account, to the house and the items in the junk drawer (provided that it is not trash hiding in that collect all drawer). Assets also include that retirement plan on which you have been diligently working.

Who Gets the Retirement?

You earned the retirement, so naturally, you are hoping that you are the one who gets to keep the retirement plan. The reality is, retirement is an employment benefit, just like any income earned. Additionally, any profits obtained during the duration of the marriage up until the date of separation are a part of the community property. As you may know, California is a community property state, meaning that everything valued to be community property is divided equally between the two parties at the time of the dissolution of marriage.

If you choose to proceed with court litigation in your divorce matter, the judge assigned to your case will make the decisions pertaining to your divorce matter. While it is true that judges do not have the sentimental connection to the items in question, there is still a responsibility to make the wisest decision possible given the information at hand. Let us discuss what some of the elements are that are used in a divorce decision-making process.

Child Custody and Visitation

First and foremost, a judge will determine what is in the best interest of the child. The default solution for “best interest” is often joint legal custody, meaning that both parents must still make the legal decisions together. It is most commonly in the best interest to have involvement from both parents, so they will also generally lean towards joint physical custody. Some of the reasons that a judge may choose to do sole custody are:

Although you may have decided that the marriage is over and divorce is the best option, your spouse wants to keep trying to make the marriage work. How do you divorce if your spouse does not agree?

California Law

First, California is considered to be a “no fault” divorce state. What this means is that neither side has to prove that the other side did anything wrong. “Irreconcilable differences” is one of the two legal grounds for divorce in California. The only other ground for divorce in California is incurable insanity. “Irreconcilable differences” means that the two sides simply cannot get along.

In California, all property that was obtained during a marriage is known as “community property.” During a dissolution of marriage, also known as divorce, this property must be divided equally between the two parties. However, there is another aspect of property that must be taken into consideration. This is known as “separate property.” What is this and must it also be disclosed during dissolution proceedings? Let us explore the realm of separate property and asset division.

What Is Separate Property?

First, let us discuss how property is actually defined. Property in and of itself is anything that can be bought and sold, such as a house, car or boat. It can also be anything of value. For instance:

Divorce is typically a stressful experience. Anxiety can build from the finality of the marriage, the financial situation, and any number of additional factors. One stress factor that may be alleviated with more information is what to expect inside of the courtroom. For many, the fear of the unknown is one of their biggest sources of anxiety. While they may differ slightly, courtrooms generally have many similarities.

Courthouse Security

Courthouses are government buildings. Therefore, most courthouses have security measures, like a metal detector that you will walk through to announce any prohibited weapons. You will need to remove anything from your person that contains metal before going through, including: